There are a few new twists to this year's Wisconsin State Fair, but don't worry: The fan-favorite traditions aren't going anywhere. (Yes, there will be cream puffs.)

■This year, the fair's Racing Animal Arena will host both Saz's Racing Pigs and the Great American Duck Race. Alternating pig and duck races happen every day, every hour Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. | July 26, 2013»Read Full Article(1)

Jayk performs on the MilwaukeeHome Stage, an unofficial SXSW showcase.

Austin, Texas — About three-dozen Wisconsin bands are starting to make their journey back home from the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, the massive music discovery event that attracts more than 2,000 bands to Austin, Texas, each March.

The Wisconsin bands that made the trek to SXSW have each spent hundreds, if not a couple thousand dollars, on gas, food and possibly lodging. They've endured logistical stresses hauling gear between clubs. Some, if not many, have played gigs for just a handful of people, struggling at times with sound issues. And it's almost certain that none of them will return to Wisconsin with a record deal. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

Tickets are $10 each for students, $35 general admission, $60 for VIP single tickets and $100 for VIP couple tickets. Tickets are available at the venue and foxcitiespac.com/events. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

Less than 48 hours before its first performance of Cormac McCarthy's "The Sunset Limited," UPROOTED Theatre announced that Lee Palmer — cast as the character Black opposite Jim Pickering as White — had been replaced because of health issues.

Adhering to the adage that the show must go on, director Marti Gobel gamely stepped into Palmer's role; what was to have been a full production became a staged reading, with the full production's lights, costumes and props. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

On Fridays I'm posting my thoughts on Lou Reed's solo albums, one album at a time in chronological order of release.

With its drum machines and goofy attempt at a novelty rap "Mistrial," Reed's 1986 album, might just as well have been called "Misfire." It's his weakest studio album of the '80s. But its moments of social commentary and its preoccupation with the Big Apple also make it a precursor of Reed's next album, "New York" (1989), one of the finest of his solo career. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Blog Post(2)

Writing a lean, stylish thriller and caper novel that takes a reader gliding along from start to finish must be hard enough. Writing one that winks at the reader from nearly every page — now that's special.

Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter novels, and Lee Goldberg, whose extensive bibliography includes a series of well-received "Monk" tie-in novels, have written more books than Heinz has varieties. If they weren't present at the confab that laid down the conventions for adventure fiction, they certainly read the minutes from that meeting. "The Chase," their second novel as a duo, is a polished little diamond with facets that may remind readers at different times of James Bond, "Ocean's Eleven" and "The A-Team." | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

The former Capri restaurant, 8340 W. Beloit Road in West Allis, this week opened as Capri Di Nuovo.

Chris and Abby Paul opened the Italian restaurant with some of Capri’s original recipes — the restaurant was open for 45 years before closing in 2012 — but also included recipes of their own on the menu. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

Not long after becoming an American citizen, I drove in July heat across the Plains with no air conditioning and a temperamental radio. My choices were God talk or a Minnesota Twins game. I chose the lesser of two evils. When I finally crossed the Dakotas, I was hooked on baseball. Soon after, I read Robert B. Parker's "Mortal Stakes" (1987) about a Red Sox blackmail scheme and my love leapt from the field to the page. My latest dugout discovery is T.T. Monday's "The Set Up Man" (Doubleday, $24.95), a sexy mystery with a rakish lead and a baseball plot that's ... pitch perfect.

After 13 years in the majors, Johnny Adcock is a successful left-handed reliever for the fictional Bay Dogs of San Jose. He may be "one torn ligament away from permanent unemployment," but his attitude about life and love is as loose as his pitching arm. Adcock's "more than a guy on the bench ... waiting for a lefty to bat in the eighth," he's a part-time PI with a reputation for discreet investigations of "cheating spouses" and "paternity threats." Sex is a "big part of professional sports," Adcock admits. "How could it not be? We are men living out our boyhood fantasies." Adcock has no allusions about his aging abilities and little romanticism about the game, which makes his character and this mystery a smashing home run. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

Three festival programs, spread out over three weeks, will each feature one of Beethoven's symphonies. But each program is a carefully constructed whole that will also feature a work by American composer John Adams. Two will include works by Stravinsky as well. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

The Best of Brew City is your mobile guide to going out in Milwaukee. Locate events, live music, bars and restaurants near you and in Milwaukee's most popular neighborhoods. Visit bestofbrewcity.com and download the app for iOS or Android today.

The Brew City Bruisers host a regular-season bout — their third in 2014 — at 7 p.m. Friday at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Bruisers' four squads — the Shevil Knevils, Rushin' Rollettes, Maiden Milwaukee and Crazy 8s — are tuning up for next month's semifinals, with the championships the Midwest Brew Ha Ha scheduled for May. Tickets to Friday's bout are $18, $15 for kids, seniors and members of the military. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Article

The first official act is to eat corned beef. Technically, it's not an Irish food but a tradition started by relocated Irish in America. Jake's Bash O' Corned Beef begins at 12:30 p.m. in Center Court of the Shops of Grand Avenue. | March 14, 2014»Read Full Blog Post